The draining of the Bourne North Fen

This fen was enclosed under an Act passed in 1776 and includes, in addition to Bourne Fen, the common arable fen lands in the hamlets of Dyke and Cawthorpe. The area of commonable land dealt with in the Enclosure Act was 2,450 acres, and of fen land in the North Fen, the South Fen and the Dyke Fen, 4,440 acres. Of this, the South Fen contains 870 acres and with additional land found on the survey, the North and Dyke Fens contain 3,780 acres. 

The commissioners appointed were John Grundy of Spalding, Francis Lane of Somerby, John Landen of Milton, Daniel Douglas of Folkingham and John Parker of Edenham.

By the terms of the Act, the Lords of the Manor were to have allotted to them 20 acres of the fens, in lieu of Brovage, and rights to the waste and soil; 340 acres of the fens were to be vested in the commissioners appointed under the Act, to let the same on lease for terms not exceeding 21 years, the rents to be applied to paying the tax laid upon the North Bank and the North Fen, under the Black Sluice Act of 1765. One twelfth of the remainder of the fens, in value, was to be allotted to the vicar, in lieu of tithes.

The commissioners were also to set out so much of the fens as would provide a cow pasture for the owners of the commonable houses and toftsteads in Bourne, Dyke and Cawthorpe, as should be equal to two cows for each house and toftstead, but not exceeding three acres for each, to be used as a cow pasture from May Day to Martinmas [November 11th] yearly; the same to be de-pastured with sheep, at the rate of three sheep to a house, for the rest of the year. If the majority of owners in Dyke Fen wished to have their fen allotted as a cow pasture, they were to be allowed to do so.

The commissioners were empowered to set out such public and private roads over the fens as they deemed necessary, the former to be 60ft. in width and be deemed highways.

Special provision was made for the protection of the spring known as the Wellhead which was to be allowed to continue its course into Bourne Eau.

The expenses of obtaining this Act and of a previous application to Parliament, and of carrying out its provisions were to be paid by the persons to whom the lands were allotted, in proportion to their value.

The commissioners were empowered to make such banks and drains and to remove or alter any works or engines thereon as they might deem necessary for draining and preserving the fens.

The land appropriated for the repairs of the South Fen Banks had become so cut up and exhausted that materials could not be got therefrom for the repair of the same, whereby they were in great danger of being frequently overflowed. A clause was therefore inserted in the Act, giving Sir Gilbert Heathcote [one of the principal landowners] power to take soil from the South Fen for their repair. The cutting was not to extend more than 60ft. distant from the bank over and above the six score feet appropriated for the purpose under the Act.

After the award was made, all the works were to vest in the Black Sluice Commissioners, appointed under the Act of 1765, who were thenceforth to be the commissioners for embanking and preserving the fens. The award was to be enrolled with the Clerk of the Peace of Kesteven, copies being furnished at the rate of twopence for 72 words.

Power was given to tax the lands for the amount required for maintenance of the works beyond that received from the rent of the land appropriated, not exceeding a shilling an acre in any one year. Persons found maliciously injuring the works were to be guilty of felony and liable to transportation.

By a subsequent Act, the land in Bourne South Fen which had been allotted as a cow pasture to the inhabitants of Dyke and Cawthorpe, as provided by the previous Act, was allotted and divided among the commoners by commissioners appointed for the purpose, and this became a separate district. 

The land in Bourne North Fen being very imperfectly drained, the owners were desirous of improving it by pumping the water out of the fen into the South Forty Foot Drain by steam power, instead of allowing it to flow there by gravitation. To this, the Black Sluice Commissioners strongly objected on the ground that the water thus sent into the main drain by steam power would have a tendency to override the drains from the other fens. After a protracted struggle, the proprietors succeeded in obtaining an Act transferring the works of the interior drainage from the Black Sluice Trust to trustees elected by the owners of land in the fen and giving authority for the erection of steam pumping machinery.

The South Forty Foot Drain pictured north of Guthrum Gowt

The preamble of the Act states that "divers Engines and Works of Drainage were made under the Powers and Provisions of the Act of 1776, but such Engines afterwards became dilapidated and decayed and are entirely removed, and the land is liable to be greatly inundated and oppressed by water, and the means of Drainage are very imperfect and insufficient; and that the lands might be more effectually drained, if power were granted for erecting and building in the Fens, one or more Engines to be worked by the power of steam, and facilitating the waters from out of the Fen into the Forty Foot Drain."

The trustees, for carrying out the provisions of the Act and for managing the drainage of the fen in the future, were to be the owners of 50 acres in Bourne North Fen and Dyke Fen. Such owners have power to nominate agents to represent them.

An annual meeting of the trustees is directed to be held at Bourne on the second Wednesday in June every year between the hours of ten and two o'clock, five being a quorum. A notice of the annual, or any special meetings, to be advertised in a newspaper circulating in Bourne, seven days previous to the meeting. The trustees have to defray their own expenses, the expense of the hire of the room being the only charge allowed on the rates. At the annual meeting, the account of receipts and disbursements is to be presented the same to be open for inspection at the office of the clerk, and an abstract of the accounts to be deposited annually with the Clerk of the Peace. A penalty of £20 is provided in case of default in making such deposit. The ratepayers may, if they think fit, appoint an auditor at the annual meeting to examine the accounts.

The trustees were authorised to borrow money to carry out the works to an amount not exceeding £6,000.

The works authorised were the erection of one or two engines with machinery and water wheels, not exceeding in the whole the power of 60 horses, and the diameter of the wheels not being more than 15ft., and to make new, or enlarge the old, drains and to maintain the same, with all the works relating thereto, in good order.

The trustees are debarred by the Act from discharging water into the Forty Foot Drain when the water therein exceeds the height of a gauge fixed by the Award of Engineers appointed specially for the purpose, power being reserved to alter the height of the gauge by agreement or by arbitration. The engine is also to suspend working for a period not exceeding 72 hours in cases of emergency. A committee of three Black Sluice Commissioners are appointed annually to determine such cases of emergency and give the necessary notices to the trustees in case they should have a reasonable apprehension of the main drain being so surcharged with water as to endanger the inundation of the country below Bourne, and from any breach of the banks or other cause. If the man in charge of the engines neglects to cease working after notice given, he is liable to a penalty of £10.

By this Act, it is enacted that the occupiers of the fen shall, when necessary, cleanse, deepen, widen and repair the roadway, and the outring and division dykes adjoining their lands, and if they neglect to carry out the orders of the trustees, after 21 days notice, the work is to be done by the superintendent of the trustees at the cost of the defaulter, who shall also be liable to a penalty of three shillings for every rod of the dyke neglected.

The trustees were empowered to levy rates for the execution of the new works, and also for their maintenance and the other expenses of the trust, of 20s. per acre the first year, 10s. the two following years and 2s. 6d. afterwards. The rates, if paid by the occupier, to be repaid to him by the owner, except in case of any agreement to the contrary. In default of payment, after 14 days public notice given, a penalty of 5s. in the £ is to be paid in addition. Rates may be recovered by action or distress.

In 1843, an Amending Act was obtained by which the Black Sluice Commissioners were discharged from any authority over the works of the interior drainage and the drains and works which existed previous to the formation of the Bourne Fen Trust and which were vested in the Black Sluice Commissioners were transferred to the trustees who were also empowered to enlarge the Mill Drain and to make a new drain from it to the Forty Foot Drain. Facilities were also provided for the purchase of the land required for improving the drainage.

The machinery for lifting the water off the fen is situated on the side of the Forty Foot Drain at Guthram Gowt and was erected by the Butterly Iron Company. It consists of a condensing beam engine of 30 nhp, the boiler pressure being originally 6lbs., but now increased to 9lbs. The cylinder is 45 inches in diameter, and the stroke 6ft. The engine works an iron scoop wheel, 15ft. in diameter and 4ft. 3in. wide, having 30 scoops, their length being 3ft. 10in. The dip is regulated by a vertical shuttle placed near the wheel, the dip allowed being about 2ft. The maximum lift is 4ft., the head and dip being 6ft. The engines are stopped when this lift is attained as the water is then level with the gauge fixed under the clause in the Act. The wheel makes 4½ revolutions a minute and the engine 19. With a full head, 2½ tons of coal are consumed in 24 hours. This gives a coal consumption of 20-37 lbs. per horse power per hour of water actually lifted, which is very extravagant, modern engines and centrifugal pumps running with a consumption of 4½ lbs. per hour whilst the maximum allowed by the Dutch authorities is 6.60lbs. 

The area of land drained is about 4,000 acres, but only 3,500 acres are liable to taxation.

The level of the fen varies from 4ft. to 6ft. above ordnance datum, or from 12ft. to 13ft. above the sill of the Black Sluice which is 20 miles distant.

In 1881, a report was obtained from Messrs Easton and Anderson as to this machinery. They advised that it should be replaced with a 40 hp horizontal condensing engine driving at 60lbs. boiler pressure, a centrifugal pump of the turbine form with a fan, 7ft. 4in. in diameter, the estimated cost being £2,700. It was also advised that the drains should be improved and enlarged, especially the Engine Drain, considerable difficulty being found, even with the existing machinery, in getting the water to the wheel and feeding it fast enough.

The recommendation with regard to the machinery was not carried out, but a tender was subsequently accepted by the trustees from Mr Barwell for widening and cleansing the main drains for £1,350.

In addition to the disadvantage that this fen has suffered from, owing to the imperfect character of the drainage arrangements, it has been always liable to inundation from the overflowing and breach of the banks of the River Glen which consist almost entirely of peat. The most serious recent flood was in 1872 when the water in the Glen rose 2ft. higher than it had ever been known to do before and a breach occurred between the lock and the Bourne Eau Sluice at Tongue End and about 2,000 acres of the fen were flooded. This breach was about 30ft. wide, and from 7ft. to 8ft. deep. An action was subsequently brought by the trustees to recover damages from the Black Sluice Commissioners on whom the repair and maintenance of the Glen bank devolves under the Act of 1765. The action (Hardwick v. Wyles) was tried at the Lincoln Spring Assizes of 1873. The question put before the jury was "whether the Commissioners took reasonable care that the bank in question should be in a reasonably fit and proper condition to protect the adjacent lands from water and floods reasonably to be contemplated." The jury found that they had done so and on a second question that was left to them, as to whether the commissioners "had heightened and strengthened" according to the provisions of the Act, 9th and 10th Vict., the jury also found in favour of the Black Sluice Commissioners.

In 1877, a large breach occurred lower down the Glen, near the Decoy. This breach was supposed to have been caused by some person cutting through the bank and a reward of £100 was offered for the discovery of the offender but without effect.

The maximum rate of 2s. 6d. was collected for several years, and until recently, to cover the expenses of the interior works. The rate laid in 1893 was 1s. 6d. and in 1894 was 1s. 3d. per acre. In addition to this, the fen is subject to the Eighteenpenny rate, payable to the Black Sluice Commissioners, and to the Witham Outfall Tax.

From the annual return of taxation for 1892-3, the rate is given as producing £285, other sources £194, a total of £479. Maintenance of the engine and works cost £156, (in the previous year £190), salaries and management £100, interest on loan £36, and repayment of principal £151, a total of £437. The loans then outstanding amounted to £585.

See also The draining of the Bourne South Fen

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